Bilangan 6:2

6:2 “Speak to the Israelites, and tell them, ‘When either a man or a woman ¹  takes a special vow, ²  to take a vow ³  as a Nazirite, ⁴  to separate ⁵  himself to the Lord,

Bilangan 6:13

Fulfilling the Vows

6:13 “‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite: When the days of his separation are fulfilled, he must be brought ⁶  to the entrance of the tent of meeting,

Amos 2:11-12

2:11 I made some of your sons prophets

and some of your young men Nazirites. ⁷ 

Is this not true, you Israelites?”

The Lord is speaking!

2:12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine; ⁸ 

you commanded the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy!’

[6:2]  ¹ tn The formula is used here again: “a man or a woman – when he takes.” The vow is open to both men and women.

[6:2]  ² tn The vow is considered special in view of the use of the verb יַפְלִא (yafli’), the Hiphil imperfect of the verb “to be wonderful, extraordinary.”

[6:2]  ³ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct followed by the cognate accusative: “to vow a vow.” This intensifies the idea that the vow is being taken carefully.

[6:2]  ⁴ tn The name of the vow is taken from the verb that follows; נָזַר (nazar) means “to consecrate oneself,” and so the Nazirite is a consecrated one. These are folks who would make a decision to take an oath for a time or for a lifetime to be committed to the Lord and show signs of separation from the world. Samuel was to be a Nazirite, as the fragment of the text from Qumran confirms – “he will be a נָזִיר (nazir) forever” (1 Sam 1:22).

[6:2]  ⁵ tn The form of the verb is an Hiphil infinitive construct, forming the wordplay and explanation for the name Nazirite. The Hiphil is here an internal causative, having the meaning of “consecrate oneself” or just “consecrate to the Lord.”

[6:13]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text has “he/one shall bring him”; since there is no expressed subject, this verb should be taken in the passive sense – “he shall be brought.” Since the context suggests an obligatory nuance, the translation “he must be brought” has been used. Some scholars solve the problem by emending the Hebrew text here, but there is no manuscript evidence to support the emendation.

[2:11]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps “religious devotees” (also in the following verse). The Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) refers to one who “consecrated” or “devoted” to God (see Num 6:1-21).

[2:12]  ⁸ sn Nazirites were strictly forbidden to drink wine (Num 6:2-3).